[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Pages 20032-20033]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    REMEMBERING OFFICER DANIEL ELLIS

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I wish to pay tribute to a Kentucky 
police officer who was tragically lost in the line of duty. Officer 
Daniel Ellis of the Richmond Police Department was shot while searching 
an apartment for a robbery suspect on November 4, 2015, and died from 
his wounds 2 days later. He was 33 years old.
  ``Our lives will never be the same again, the lives of his fellow 
officers and of his family will never be the same,'' Richmond Police 
Chief Larry Brock said during Officer Ellis's funeral. ``He turned out 
to be a great police officer. He was one of those guys that just got it 
and got it early.''
  Officer Ellis started at the department on August 11, 2008. He was 
known as a kindhearted man who treated others with dignity and respect. 
One day while on duty, he saw a man in business clothes carrying a tent 
and walking down the street. When asked, the man told Officer Ellis 
that he had a job interview the next morning and had nowhere to spend 
the night. Officer Ellis paid to get him a room.
  Daniel graduated from Eastern Kentucky University, where his funeral 
service was held. Most of the school coliseum's 7,000 seats were full 
for the service. Hundreds of fellow police officers from across 
Kentucky and other States poured into Richmond to pay their respects.
  Members of Officer Ellis's family who are suffering from this loss 
include his wife, Katie; his son, Luke, who is only 4 years old; his 
parents, Kelly and Nancy West Ellis; two brothers; a sister; and his 
paternal grandmother.
  I know my colleagues in the United States Senate join me in wishing 
the Ellis family our utmost condolences after their horrible loss. We 
are humbled and we are grateful for Officer Daniel Ellis's service and 
his enormous sacrifice in the line of duty. I hold the deepest 
admiration and respect for every brave police officer across the 
Bluegrass State, all of whom put their lives in danger to protect us. 
Kentucky is thankful these men and women have made a sacred pledge to 
protect and defend.
  Local news Web site WLKY.com published a moving article about Officer 
Ellis and the outpouring of grief in the Richmond community after his 
death. I ask unanimous consent that the article be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                     [From WLKY.com, Nov. 12, 2015]

  Thousands Say Goodbye to Slain Richmond Officer Daniel Ellis--Chief 
                 Says ``Grief Is Nearly Inconsolable''

                 (By Carolyn Callahan and Emily Maher)

       Richmond, Ky.--He lost his life doing the job he loved.
       Thousands of people were in Richmond on Wednesday to say 
     goodbye to Officer Daniel Ellis.
       The 33-year-old was shot a week ago during a robbery 
     investigation.
       He died two days later.
       The funeral service was held at Alumni Coliseum at Eastern 
     Kentucky University.
       Both Daniel and his wife, Katie, graduated from the school.
       For the first time since the deadly shooting, Richmond's 
     police chief spoke publicly.
       ``We have lost our Daniel,'' Chief Larry Brock said. ``Our 
     collective grief is nearly inconsolable.''
       Ellis started with the Richmond Police Department in 2008.
       While Brock hoped Ellis would finish his career with the 
     department, he never imagined it would end the way it did.
       ``Today we say goodbye to Officer Daniel Ellis. Our Daniel. 
     But we will never forget him, his service, or his 
     sacrifice,'' Brock said.
       Ellis leaves behind a wife and young son.
       ``Katie, I pledge to you and Luke that you will remain a 
     part of our family. That we

[[Page 20033]]

     will always be there for you, and that you will never walk 
     alone,'' Brock said.
       The chief said it rained after Ellis died.
       ``It was as if the angels themselves were crying at the 
     loss of this special young man,'' Brock said.
       Then hours later, a rainbow appeared over the Richmond 
     Police Department. The chief takes that as a sign that Ellis 
     is still with them.
       ``Rest easy, Daniel. You have left us too early,'' he said.
       Shortly before he was killed, Ellis found out he was being 
     promoted to detective.
       It's a job at which the chief said he would have excelled.
       ``From the kindergarten classrooms that he visited, to the 
     courtrooms where his testimony could be counted on to be 
     straightforward and truthful, he will be greatly missed,'' 
     East End Church of Christ minister Phillip Shumake said.
       Hundreds lined downtown Richmond streets as Ellis received 
     a hero's escort to his final resting place.
       Residents in Richmond said they wanted to show their thanks 
     to the man who gave his life protecting theirs.
       Black and blue pinwheels and white ribbons with Ellis's 
     badge number line the Eastern Bypass.
       Hundreds of officers drove down the street, escorting Ellis 
     to his final resting place, while the community watched and 
     supported an officer who was loved.
       ``Even though we wear a different badge, he is my 
     brother,'' Shane Allen with Richmond Rescue said.
       ``You're grieving for someone that's not a family member, 
     but he feels like a family member,'' community member Shelley 
     Johnson said.
       ``We were actually on shift the day it happened and we were 
     all trying to find out who it was. He is family,'' Allen 
     said.
       A kind of family that is brought closer together in times 
     of loss.
       ``And I was trying to explain to the kids, `Mommy, why do 
     you cry?' And it's like something unexplainable and maybe 
     they can understand that,'' Johnson said.
       The community stood together to pay their final respects 
     holding signs calling Ellis a hero.
       ``It's unbelievable. It's really touching to see the 
     support--that even though it's something tragic that has 
     brought this community together so tightly, to see the 
     support for somebody they might not even know. And to see 
     them come out on a day and support him as he goes by to lay 
     at rest,'' Allen said.
       Hundreds of officers from across the state escorted Ellis 
     on a 100-mile journey to his final resting place.
       ``We just wanted to show what his service has meant to 
     us,'' community member Sarah Roof said.
       As he passed by, blue balloons were released into the air 
     as a final tribute to a man the community said will never be 
     forgotten.
       ``He loved his job. He helped the community and that was 
     his job. And that's what he wanted to do,'' Allen said.
       Ellis will be laid to rest in Adair County.
       The family has asked for donations to be made to the 
     Kentucky Law Enforcement Memorial Foundation or Supporting 
     Heroes.

                          ____________________